Pastor’s Newsletter 

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October, A.D. 2008                           Faith Presbyterian Church - Paris, Texas

In this season of harvest and plenty we are keenly aware of the devastation and need across our land, and even locally.  Floods and hurricanes have wreaked havoc on our coasts and in the upper Midwest.  During this year we have also been able to use our Deacon Fund to help our own with unexpected financial burdens.

From time to time we have been asked to collect special offerings to provide disaster relief for our brothers and sisters in other parts of the country.  We did so again in September.  I recently heard a news commentator refer to “donor fatigue”, a situation where people have been asked so often to give for the needs of others that they run out of resources, or responsiveness, and giving drops off substantially.  Part of that condition may be that people reach a point where they are no longer giving just from their surplus, but actually have to consider giving sacrificially.  They may have to do without a few things so that others may have a little of something.

I’ve been reading a book, MISSING FROM ACTION, VANISHING MANHOOD IN AMERICA,  by Weldon Hardenbrook.  In chapter 9 he focuses on a biblical “model for manhood”, using Job 29.  I urge you, especially the men, to read all of Job 29 to get a picture of a godly man and father.  One section deals with being a “Father to the fatherless” and helping those in need.  He wrote,

“I can remember my sister and I riding in the back seat of dad’s 1940 Pontiac on Sunday afternoons as we took groceries to some ‘poor people’.  One hot summer day as we were going to make yet another delivery of food my mother commented that we really didn’t have very much food ourselves.  Dad replied, ‘We have more than these people do.’  That was the end of the conversation.” (p.123)

One of the things that have historically set the Church apart from the rest of the world is the generous spirit of God’s people in the face of crisis; in their community or somewhere else in the world.  The Church has taken seriously the words of Jesus from Matthew 25:34-40,

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;  I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’  Then the righteous will answer Him saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You…?  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me.” (NKJV)

The disastrous events of this year may have ebbed for now, but the resulting devastation remains.  The economy is more than shaky and uncertain for all of us to one degree or another.  But our Sovereign Lord continues to reign over all of creation, to work out His good and perfect will, and to call us to trust Him for protection and provision even as he calls us to help our neighbors in need; near or far.  We cannot do it all, but what we can do, let us do well for His glory, and for the benefit of our neighbors.   

May God’s Blessing Be Upon You,

Pastor John
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